By Shane McGlaun

The first camcorder that I ever saw was one that my uncle had. The thing was huge and looked like something the newscasters used. It wasn’t only the huge camera though; the thing had a huge VCR that had to go along with it. It weighed about 30 pounds altogether.

Panasonic has announced a couple new camcorders today that are being called the world’s lightest camcorders at 0.5 pounds. The camcorders are the HDC-TM10 and the HDC-SD10. The only real difference between the two is that the SD10 stores video to SD and SDHC cards only. The TM10 has 8GB of internal storage and then changes to SD/SDHC cards.

The cameras feature 16x optical zoom and use advanced optical image stabilization to minimize shake at high zoom levels. The image stabilization system also works while walking. Both cameras record full 1080p resolution video and can be ready to record in 1.9 seconds. Navigating the settings is done with a touchscreen and a video light and flash are built-in. The SD10 will sell for $549.95 and the TM10 will sell for $599.95 both are launching in September.

[ Panasonic ]

By Shane McGlaun

I for one am glad that the majority of consumer video cameras available today have left tapes behind and moved to digital storage formats. That means instead of having boxes of cassette tapes sitting around the house gathering dust I can put all my home movies onto my computer or burn the easily to DVD.

Samsung has announced a pair of new ergonomic camcorders called the SMX-C14 and the SMX-C10. The two camcorders have the Touch of Color design that Samsung pioneered with its TVs. Both of the camcorders utilize Samsungs Active Angle Lens to make shooting video more comfortable.

Other features include a 2.7-inch LCD that tilts, H.264 video compression, and a 10x optical zoom lens. Both cameras also feature Samsung video and photo editing software built-in to let users edit video on a PC without needing software. The difference between the two cameras is that the C14 has 16GB of internal storage with expansion via SD/SDHC cards while the C10 only has SD/SDHC storage. The cameras will ship in July at undisclosed pricing.

[ Samsung ]

By Shane McGlaun

Over the last few years camcorders have changed drastically from devices that recorded to tapes of different types to machines that use internal flash or hard drives to store video. With the move to flash storage and HDDs the cameras were also able to shrink to more portable sizes.

Genius has announced its first camcorder called the G-Shot HD520. The little camcorder weight less than six ounces and records video in 720p resolution. Video is encoded and compressed using MPEG-4/H.264 formats. In addition to recording video the camera can also take still images at 11-megapixels.

Video is stored to 32MB of internal memory and expansion up to 8GB with SDHC cards is possible. The camera has 5x digital zoom and features face tracking and electronic image stabilization. The screen for the camera is a 2.5-inch LCD that can rotate 270-degrees. The little camera sells for $149.

[ Genius ]

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t deny that Sony makes some really nice toys sometimes. Their latest ultra-compact camcorder, the HDR-TGV5, records “full” 1920X1080 video (compressed to AVCHD) to 16GB of built-in flash memory which should accommodate about 6 hours of footage in LP mode. And if that runs out, you can always throw a Memory Stick PRO Duo card in there when you need more storage.

The 2.7-inch LCD display should help reduce the camcorder’s battery life, but it also serves as a touch screen interface, reducing the amount of buttons that usually clutter up the exterior. The HDR-TG5V’s also got a built-in GPS antenna and comes with NAVTEQ digital maps allowing you to geo-tag your videos and photos and see where they were captured right on the camera’s display.

The HDR-TG5V is expected to ship sometime in May, and will set you back about a grand.

[ PR - Sony TG5V ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Evan Ackerman

Looks like the recession hasn’t had much of an effect on California sea otters, one of whom was recently spotted in Monterey Bay with his own video camera.

“I was like, did I actually see an otter with a video camera or was I hallucinating?” [Aguirre] said.

The screen on Aguirre’s digital camera soon confirmed what he’d seen: an otter floating on its back, video camera grasped in its paws, lens aimed at the boat of excited photographers. The humans had a bad angle, but Aguirre managed to snap a single clear shot before the otter dived, video camera in tow.

“He’s the only one who got the photo,” Gideon said.

Judging by the rust and seaweed adorning the camera, the otter probably wasn’t getting much good footage. But Aguirre, who has photographed animals all over the world for more than a decade, said the otter aiming a camcorder was the “craziest” thing he’s seen an animal do in the wild.

The otter never resurfaced, leaving the photographers to speculate on the make and model of the animal’s gear. Aguirre suspects that the camera was dropped by a kayaking tourist and then picked up by the curious creature.

“I know I can go down there another million times and I will never see another otter with a video camera,” Aguirre said. “I think I have more chance of a penguin coming up to me and actually speaking English.”

I dunno, if the sea otters can somehow monetize their YouTube cuteness, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them sporting MP3 players and SD cards and jetpacks.

[ Santa Cruz Sentinel ] VIA [ Neatorama ]

By Evan Ackerman

In the market for a new HD camcorder? No? C’mon, why not? Everything’s getting smaller and cheaper, and HD camcorders are no exception. RCA sent us a sample of one of their smallest and cheapest, the EZ300HD, which can do just about everything you want and nothing you don’t care about. This is going to be fairly straightforward and simple review, because the essence of this camcorder is that it’s straightforward and simple. Oh, and cheap, of course… The EZ300HD costs just $130. Review, after the jump.

-Hardware

RCA calls this camcorder “EZ,” and they’re not kidding. It’s small (about the same size as an iPhone, and about twice as thick), and weighs so little that it feels like you forgot to put the battery in. There isn’t too much exciting going on as far as the case is concerned, but you’ll find all the features you need in a basic camcorder.

The front has a handgrip that’s unfortunately optimized for right handed people. You’ll also find a small LED recording light, and the mic. The lens, which flips out and around 180 degrees to let you record yourself (nice touch), has a little selector that lets you toggle between macro and normal modes. Although it’s a bit of a hassle, it actually works, and lets you keep things in focus down to about 10 inches.

The back of the EZ300HD has a 2.4″ LCD that’s functional if a bit grainy. It displays battery life, quality, and recording time remaining. The controls on the back consist of 5 buttons plus a rocker pad and a quality selector switch, and it’s all a dead cinch to operate. You can choose from HD (1280 x 720 @ 30 fps), HQ, or YouTube quality modes. Recording involves pushing all of two buttons, the on/off button and the big red record button. After you’re done, hit the play button to play your clip back and hold the delete button to delete it. The rocker switch lets you browse your clips, and adjusts the (entirely worthless) digital zoom. The last button is the photo button, and if you push it, you get a 5 megapixel photo. Seriously, camcorders don’t get much more painless to use than this.

Around the sides of the camera you’ll find a battery door for the proprietary lithium battery, which is good for up to 2 hours of recording time per charge. Just above the battery compartment is a slot for an SDHC card. The EZ300HD accepts cards of up to 16 gigs, which would give you 8 hours of HD recording, in addition to the 1 hour of HD recording (or 2 hours in HQ or 6 hours in YouTube quality) that you get with the 2 gigs of built-in memory. The other side has an AV port, and a nifty little switch that extends a USB connector out of a port in the top of the camcorder, a brilliant little feature… No cables necessary. The bottom of the EZ300HD has a strap loop, a tripod screw mount, and an HDMI connector.

-Using It

Like I said, it’s dead simple to use. You just turn it on and push the button and off you go. It’s more comfortable to hold than it looks due to the light weight. It makes annoying noises when turning on and off and when taking still photos… I have no idea how to prevent this from happening. There’s no in-camera editing, but that’s okay. I think in-camera editing is a gimmick most of the time anyway, and I actually appreciate the fact that you can view and delete clips but nothing else. As far as quality, well, can I describe it with a “meh?” It’s technically HD quality, but only in 30 FPS, and the minuscule amount of glass in the lens means that it looks decent in good light but quickly dissolves in noise when things get dim. The audio sensitivity is pretty good, but loud noise can overload the mic. All in all, it’s not bad for normal, everyday use, but I wouldn’t recommend asking it to do anything especially complex.

-Software

The software comes on the camera itself, and you can install it when you plug the camera in for the first time. This is convenient. What is less convenient is that it takes about 10 minutes to install the assorted bits of software and codecs, and then RCA tries to convince you that you really need Mozy backup software, that you want a Weatherbug widget, and that Ask should be your default search engine. C’mon, RCA, crapware? Really? The whole “streamlined and simple” concept behind this camera just took a hit. Even worse, when you actually run the software, it displays ads for this same crap inside the program itself. Maybe this helps make the camcorder as cheap as it is, but I feel like if you pay for some hardware and software, you shouldn’t have to watch advertisements for entirely unrelated services (or anything, honestly) while you use it.

After I installed everything, one of my videos didn’t play. I’m not sure why. I closed the software (which triggered an annoying “thanks for using this software” screen), unplugged the EZ300HD, plugged it back in, and then it asks me if I want to install the software. Sigh. Closing that screen out, I ran the program from a desktop shortcut, and it starts but gives me a nag screen asking me to register the camera. I had previously declined to do this. Twice. Okay, you know what, I gave it a chance but now I give up, this is no longer EZ.

Thankfully, the EZ300HD shows up as a mass storage device when you plug it in to a USB port, and you can browse directly to your *.AVI format videos. Note that to view them, you may have to install the software once to get the proper codecs on your computer. I would highly, highly, highly recommend skipping all of the software crap and just using what you already have, like Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker to play and edit your videos.

-Overall

Let me get it out of the way: the software sucks. RCA can be forgiven for minimizing features on such a low-end camera, and maybe even for the crapware and ads if it makes a material difference in the overall price of the camera… But the nag screens? Not classy. My advice is to not use the software at all lest it annoy the the heck out of you.

I personally would have preferred that the EZ300HD use AA batteries, which would afford much more flexibility but add weight and possibly, but not necessarily, bulk. Lithium batteries are nice and all, but 2 hours is not a very long lifetime, especially if you’re taking advantage of the memory expansion slot and can record 9 hours worth of video. Alternatively, it would have been nice if the battery could be charged via USB or just with a power cable, as opposed to a separate charger.

In general, though, the EZ300HD is a solid, compact, and convenient camcorder that records in HD. The controls are brainless, the integrated memory is useful, and the USB connectivity is a simple feature that makes the difference as to whether or not you should pay $130ish for it. It’s not fancy, but it doesn’t claim to be… It’s cheap, it’s simple, and it works.

[ RCA EZ300HD ]

By Luke Anderson

In the last month we’ve seen a digital camera and mobile phone that appear to have been constructed of LEGO bricks. While we’re not exactly sure why LEGO is venturing into the gadget world, it appears that the company has more bricked-out products up its sleeve. This time they’ve crafted a video camera.

The camcorder looks a little less like it was actually constructed of LEGO bricks than the camera, but it still isn’t half bad. I guess I’m just a little stumped as to why they are making these. Sure, it’s fun to mod your own gadgets and recreate them with LEGOs, but to actually buy a device that looks like it’s made from those colorful bricks isn’t nearly as cool. Not sure if this is actually going to end up on store shelves, or if they just made it for kicks.

[ Hobbymedia ] VIA [ Dvice ]

Aiptek’s new PocketDV AHD 300 is a budget-level camcorder that’s capable of capturing 1080P footage for just $250. Well to be completely accurate, it can only capture footage at 1440×1080 (compared to the 1920×1080 image displayed by your HDTV) but that’s actually not a big deal since even high-def codecs like Sony’s HDCAM only stores 1440×1080. And while it can capture 1080P at 30fps, you can actually get it up to 60fps if you switch to the camcorder’s 720P mode. The 90MB of usable internal storage is pretty much useless, but it does include an SDHC SD card slot that supports card capacities up to 32GB in size. For comparison a 4GB SD card should give you enough room for about an hour’s worth of 1080P footage.

Unfortunately that $250 price tag does come with some limitations, like a crappy digital zoom and a non-HD 2.4″ TFT LCD display. But more importantly it represents another important step in consumer level HD gear becoming more commonplace and affordable.

[ Aiptek PocketDV AHD 300 ] VIA [ TFTS ]

This post is syndicated with permission from Gadgetoholic.com

When camcorders first launched decades ago the image quality was bad, the cameras were huge, and lots of tapes were needed to record anything. Today camcorders are very small, image quality is now often HD, and tapes are mostly a thing of the past.

Canon introduced three new camcorders that all record to internal storage in full 1080p HD resolution. The camcorders are all in the VIXIA line and record in 24Mbps bit rate in AVCHD format. Canon says that 24Mbps is the highest bit rate that can be used in the AVCHD format and makes for more detailed and smoother video recordings.

The VIXIA HF11 records up to 12 hours of HD video to 32GB of internal flash storage and has a SDHC slot for additional memory when needed. The VIXIA HG20 can record up to 22 hours of video to a 60GB internal HDD and has a SDHC card slot. The final camcorder is the HG21 with 160GB of storage — recording up to 45 hours of video — and a SDHC card slot for expansion. The camcorders will be available in September with the HG11 selling for $1199, the HG21 for $1299 and the HG20 for $949.

Via [ Gadgetoholic ]